Abandoned Prescriptions in a Downhill Economy

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Those in pharmacy jobs have been reporting a rather disturbing trend: prescriptions are being abandoned at the pharmacies. That is to say that people are calling in prescriptions and never picking them up. The reasons for this are fairly obvious if you think about it.

The economy is spiraling downward very steadily and very quickly. The price of medication has never been higher so it's no surprise that people aren't picking them up-they simply cannot afford them! What about health insurance? Once again the economy plays a factor in whether or not people can afford health insurance. In addition to that there is the fact that most insurance companies tend to disqualify applicants based on preexisting conditions so if you are suffering from a chronic illness you can give up on health insurance right now.

On the subject of the chronic illness, that is one of the more common prescriptions being abandoned. Yes, you heard that right. Even the people who have painful, even life threatening illnesses are abandoning their prescriptions due to the price. Those holding pharmacist jobs say that this trend is growing at a disturbing rate and shows no signs of stopping.

Individuals in pharmaceutical jobs also report that more and more generic prescriptions are being called in. Generic prescriptions are much cheaper, and in the current economy they are much more efficient. At the last count 60 percent of all prescriptions filled in the United States were generic medications, which is a definite increase from the 12 percent in 2004.

It has been said by individuals in pharmacy jobs that at the end of the year 2009 two out of three prescriptions will be generic. Does this hurt the prescription industry? Absolutely! Though the brand names are multi billion dollar corporations, they won't be doing any business if no one is buying from them. It's entirely possible that the generic brands may very well become the brand name medicine if this keeps up.

This wouldn't have been a problem several years ago, says one who holds one of the many pharmacy jobs, because patients were not educated about the existence of generic medication. Whether or not it's actually a problem is anyone's guess and only the future will tell.

Will it affect any of the pharmacist jobs? There's really no way to know, the only thing we do know is that this trend is incredibly disturbing and most in the industry are more worried about the abandoned prescription. Not only is it a loss for the pharmacy, it is also a loss for the patient who so badly required that medicine. If this keeps up we may even begin to see deaths related to the abandoned prescription.

What does this ultimately equate to? It means that something needs to be done, with either health insurance or the economy, or both preferably. Whatever is going to happen, it needs to happen soon; otherwise our society is going to reap the rewards of its negligence. As for what can be done, only time and a lot of debate will tell. So keep an eye and ear out, listen to what those in pharmaceutical jobs have to say, and perhaps the solution will present itself.

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